Broken (Book 1 of the Broken Series)

Chapter 2: Dream Walking

Darkness. Cold. Is it this death? I wish I had more time to say goodbye to my family. I wish I had more time to travel and do the things I’ve always dreamed of doing. The restaurant I had always wanted to open, the hotel I had always wanted to own. Walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress. My kids that I now will never meet. I was thinking about what heaven would look like and yet there is nothing here except emptiness. Why have I not seen a light? Maybe I am broken after all.

A light shines through the bright windows and a beeping noise from my left side. I start to move my toes slowly. I can feel them. My eyes begin to flutter, as I observe the ceiling and my surroundings. Where am I?

Two voices can be heard outside the room, a voice I know all too well, and another I don’t recognize.

A woman beside me lifts my hand to check my IV, her eyes checking the beeping machine. She writes down the numbers on the machine on paper only to look shocked when she sees me starring at her.

            “Oh my. Caroline you are awake.” The woman says surprised.

I slowly nod. Where am I? “Who are you, where am I?”

            “My name is Maggy your nurse. You are at Saint Peter’s hospital.” She gives me a small smile. “I will go let everyone know your awake.”

Before I can say anything, she leaves abruptly only for my mom to enter a few seconds later. Her smile radiates once she’s seen me.

            “Oh Lina! We are so grateful you are awake. Do you know how scared we were that you were going to be asleep forever?” My mom says dramatically.

She always was the worrier and the dramatic one of the family. Sometimes I wondered how my father put up with her theatrics.

            “Mom…what happened?” I asked uncertainly. I don’t exactly recall what happened, nor do I know how long I have been in here.

Mom touches my cheek softly, “You don’t remember?”

I shake my head no, “No. I don’t think so…I-” I cut myself off like a flash of Kurtis’ face comes to my mind, along with the knife stabbing my stomach. I rip the blanket off me and lift the hospital gown to find one long s***h with stitches and gauze. I gasp. “Kurtis! He was there mom! He did this to me, he-.” I stop as my mom raises her hand to me.

            “We know sweetie. Kurtis was waiting in the office at your work for you, and he threatened you, and hurt you.” My mom explains. “Officer Jameson was in the shop at the time and helped you.”

That’s right, he did. “Where is officer Jameson?”

            “I don’t know honey, probably working. But he does come and visit you almost everyday. Every time your father and I come in, he’s here. The doctor says he’s here asking questions about you and checking on you.” She explains.

He checks in on me? Why? “And Kurtis? What if he’s still out there? What if he comes back and hurts me again!” I shriek, my body shaking as a reaction.

My mother grabs a hold of my hand again to calm me “He was caught! He is not a threat anymore. It took the police a day or two, but he was caught Lina. He will have a trial, but he will be going away for a while. I mean that’s what officer Jameson said anyways.”

A day or two? “How long have I been in here mom?” I asked warily.

She ponders for a moment, “What’s today, Thursday? So that would make it what?” She begins to count on her hand. “Almost three weeks. I would say.” She finishes.

I’m stunned. “I have been in here for almost 3 weeks?” How could a knife wound make me unconscious for three weeks? It didn’t make any sense. “How? How has it been three weeks?”

            “Did you even get a look at the knife he was holding? It was 7 inches long! Not to mention military type, with the teeth on the other side. Honestly, I don’t know how he got a hold of something like that.”

I remember the knife being pressed against my abdomen, but I don’t remember what type it was. I was too busy getting the life choked out of me. “No, I don’t recall…-”

            “Well anyways, he stabbed you and twisted. It caused quite a bit of internal damage that needed surgery to fix. You slipped into a small coma. The doctor wasn’t exactly sure when you would wake up, but he knew it wouldn’t be long.” She explained.

            “But I am okay now?” I asked.

The doctor peeked into the room as my question was asked. “Hello Caroline, my name is Doctor Howard. I have been looking after you these past few weeks, and I have to say you have been through quite an ordeal.”

I smirked, “I guess you can say that.”

            “You have stitches across your abdomen. I am sorry it is bigger than you expected, unfortunately we had to open you up further to fix what was slashed and ripped. You lost a lot of blood, so a transfusion was necessary. We just weren’t expecting you to slip into a coma like you did.”

My face dropped, “Is that a bad thing? I am going to die?”

His face lightened up, “We fixed you up, so no Caroline you are not dying. The body works in mysterious ways. Your body said it needed some much-needed rest, so it helped you do just that.”

I nodded slowly before he continued, “I noticed you haven’t been resting. Is there a reason to that?”

            “She had a boyfriend who was just awful towards her. After she left, he did everything he could to torment her, which is why she moved here. Of course, she had to sleep with one eye open, he was crazy. He is the one who did this to her.” My mother intercepted.

Doctor Howard nodded, “Yes I do remember seeing that on her clipboard. I will write a recommendation for a psychologist after you leave. Trauma is a very tricky thing, and we want you in the best health possible.”

            “Oh, I don’t think I need that doctor. As you said I am all fixed up now…” I responded.

            “Nonsense Lina, you are taking the recommendation. Have you any idea what you have been through? I mean think about if you got PTSD from all of this. I can’t even begin to imagine what the neighbours would think if you came to visit and you were acting out from PTSD!” My mother exclaimed.

Doctor Howard raised his eyebrow to my mother, “Right…Anyways, I am still writing the recommendation, and you should really rest some more. I will ask a nurse to fetch you some food. I will be back in a few hours to check on you again.” He gave a small smile to me and told my mother it would be best for her to leave me alone for a while to rest.

            “I will be back to check on you later as well, okay?” My mother assured me, kissing my forehead before leaving.

Scanning over the room left me pondering some more on the fact I had been here for almost three weeks. What about work? Had my co-workers seen me lifeless on the floor? How could I face them again? My thoughts only seemed to get darker.

A few hours had passed, a nurse had brought me a hospital plate. Basic hospital food. Turkey with mash potatoes, peas, gravy, and a Jell-O cup. It was very bland, to say the least. The nurse handed the TV remote from across the room and allowed me to browse the channels. I stumbled upon an old western flick. It has always been something I had loved to watch and made me think of my grandfather who loved them just as much as me.

My eyes were so fixated on the movie I didn’t see a figure slip into the door and walk over to my bedside. My head turned slightly with anxiety, ready to scream at a moment's notice.

            “Hello again, sorry to bother you.” A familiar voice said softly.

My head turned fully to see the tall, muscular, blue eyes man that I had seen in the mechanic shop. The undercover cop Officer Jameson.

            “You are not bothering me.” I replied scooting my butt up to sit more properly.

He gave a small smile, “They informed me you had woken up, so I thought I would drop by and see how you were doing.”

Why does he care so much? Don’t first responders just do what they can and move on? I wasn’t aware any of them followed up with whom they had saved.

            “I should thank you Officer Jameson. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”

He flushed for a moment, “Of course. I mean I need you to get those parts for me still.” He smirked.

I chuckled, “I would have thought you would have gotten them by now, with me being in here for three weeks.” Then it hit me. I forgot to press cash out on the computer. I had put the items in the cart, but nothing else. I facepalmed myself, “Shoot. I totally forgot to cash out. The parts were in the cart, but since I forgot to cash out nothing happened.”

            “It’s okay. I figured that is what happened, you were a little bit preoccupied with not dying.” He replied sarcastically.

My smile brightened, “Just a little bit.”

He pulled a chair to the side of the bed and scooted closer. “You know he was caught right? The asshole who hurt you.” His face darkened recalling the events that had taken place.

I nodded, “My mother told me he was caught, and there will be a trial…” I trailed off.

            “Yes there will be. That is what I am here to talk to you about.”

I listened attentively when he explained what they thought he was going to be charged with, and roughly how much time he was going to do in jail. “That’s where we need you.”

I gave a confused look, “What do you mean?”

            “Well…we need you to testify.” He added.

My face dropped as I realized that would mean facing him again. “No, no, no…I can’t do that…I can’t see him! He- He…” I started to feel the terror rise within me.

Officer Jameson placed his hand over mine, “Caroline, its okay.” He paused. “He would be in handcuffs, and there would be over 4 officers in the courtroom. You will be safe, trust me.”

I was assured at all. Even if he were chained up Hannibal style, I would still be afraid he would get out and come after me.

            “It is the only way we can assure his jail time. We need hard evidence, and proof. You are that proof Caroline. Living, breathing proof. Then the judge and the jury would see his intentions, and understand he is a psychotic man. They would put him away for a long time for sure!”

I was speechless, but I knew that I would have to do this. “Okay. Whatever it takes to keep him in jail for a long time is good with me. Would you be there?” I asked.

            “Of course. I am a key witness, and I have already spoken to a few people in the court who ensured me that my statement is enough to jail him for at least eight years. But your statement in court would mean he could be jail for fifteen years for attempted murder.”

A sense of relief waved over me. Fifteen years was a long time I didn’t have to worry about looking over my shoulder and peeking around every corner to see if I was being followed. A good solid fifteen years of bliss.

            “Thank you for all you have done for me Officer Jameson. I really appreciate it.”   “Dean.” He corrected.

I paused, “Dean?”

He smiled, “That’s my name, Dean Jameson. I just thought it would be better to be on first name basis since were going to be seeing a lot more of each other with the trial.”

            “And the car.” I added.

            “Yes and the car. I have to order those parts soon; the show is coming up in a few months.” He responded.

            “Oh yeah, I forgot about your little car show.”

His eyebrow raised, “It is not just a little car show Caroline. I could have my cars pictures in a show car magazine, and I could win a cash prize for best car. Its kind of important.”

I put my hands up in surrender, “Oh. I’m sorry.” I smiled, “Must be some big deal.” I teased.

            “Oh it is. You’ll see.” He countered.

            “I will?” I asked. Was he asking me on a date? My face began to flush a bright pink.

            “I am officially inviting you to the car show. You will see how cool it is then.” He smiled and said goodbye as he left.

I thought about him inviting me to the car show. He was just being friendly. This newfound friendship was going to kill me because I secretly wanted it to be more. Was it because he saved me? Or because I found him extremely good-looking? Only time will tell I guess.